Hearing the cry, Zhou Zhijun felt as if an invisible giant hand had gripped his heart. He abruptly let go of the two people and dashed out.
"Xiaohong!" He sprinted out with long strides and bumped right into Wang Xiaohong. "What happened to your sister-in-law?"
"My... my sister-in-law... she fainted..." Wang Xiaohong sobbed, wiping her tears. "Hurry, please hurry and take her to the clinic!"
Zhou Zhijun didn't have time to ask for details. He stretched his long legs and sprinted toward the Wang family's house.
When he rushed into the inner room, he saw his mother sitting by the bed. The village doctor, Zhao Qingjiang, had already arrived with his medical kit and was taking Chun Tao's blood pressure.
Chun Tao lay flat on the bed, her eyes tightly shut. Her face was as pale as a sheet of paper, and even her lips were completely drained of color.
A button was missing from her coarse cloth tunic. Zhou Zhijun's heart skipped a beat.
"What exactly happened?" He stared at the frail figure on the bed, his heart in his throat.
"This girl's body is too weak... Her blood pressure is extremely low."
Zhao Qingjiang put down the blood pressure monitor and took out a pouch of silver needles from his kit. Pulling out a needle, he instructed, "Hurry up and get a bowl of brown sugar water!"
Wang Xiaohong turned to boil water, but on second thought, realized they didn't have any brown sugar at home.
The packet Zhou Zhijun had bought for Chun Tao last time had long been secretly taken away by her mother.
She was just about to ask if Aunt Zhou had any at home when Aunt Zhou stood up. "I'll go back and get some brown sugar!" After saying that, she hurried outside.
Zhao Qingjiang asked Zhou Zhijun to hold Chun Tao's head steady. He wiped the silver needle on the corner of his own clothes, then inserted it into Chun Tao's philtrum, gently twisting it a couple of times with his fingertips.
Seeing no response from Chun Tao, he had Zhou Zhijun support her wrist. He inserted another needle, gently twisting it for a moment to let it go a little deeper.
Finally, he pricked the pad of Chun Tao's thumb, immediately pulled the needle out, and used his fingernails to squeeze out two drops of blood.
After the three needles were done, Zhao Qingjiang gently massaged Chun Tao's wrist and called to her softly, "Girl, wake up!"
Chun Tao remained motionless, showing no reaction at all. Zhou Zhijun pressed anxiously, "Brother Qingjiang, when will she wake up?"
Zhao Qingjiang looked grave. "Let's wait a bit longer. If she still doesn't wake up, we'll have to send her to the commune clinic!"
When Wang Xiaohong came in carrying the sugar water, Chun Tao still hadn't woken up.
"Sister-in-law..." she choked out, then turned to Zhao Qingjiang, asking tearfully, "Uncle Qingjiang, my sister-in-law will be alright, won't she?"
"Let's wait a bit more." Zhao Qingjiang's words made everyone's hearts clench even tighter.
Meanwhile, in the other room, Wang Jieshi also had red-rimmed eyes, feeling both frightened and confused.
Chun Tao's fainting, besides her low blood pressure, was also his fault.
Earlier, when Wang Xiaohong went to Zhou Hongxia's house to get money, he had called out to Chun Tao from the inner room, "Pour me a bowl of water!"
Chun Tao was busy in the kitchen. Hearing his shout, she quickly poured a bowl of hot water and brought it over.
Wang Jieshi sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes frighteningly red.
Chun Tao placed the water bowl on the broken cabinet by the bed and turned to leave, but Wang Jieshi suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Chun Tao shuddered in fright and tried hard to shake off his hand. "What are you doing?"
The redness in Wang Jieshi's eyes deepened. Like an enraged beast, his voice was terribly hoarse. "What do you think I'm doing?
I've been back for so long, and I haven't even touched you yet.
You are Wang Jieshi's wife, and today I'm going to let you know that I'm a man too!"
Looking at his ferocious face, Chun Tao struggled desperately in terror. "Let go of me! I still have chores to finish!"
Although she was married into the Wang family, she and Wang Jieshi had never gotten a marriage certificate, so they weren't legally husband and wife at all.
Coupled with the fact that Wang Jieshi had eloped with someone else, Chun Tao's heart was full of resentment.
"You look down on Wang Jieshi, don't you?" Wang Jieshi suddenly grabbed her waist and forcefully pushed her onto the bed. "I'm your man! I can do whatever I want!"
Although he only had one leg, he somehow found an immense amount of strength at that moment and actually pinned Chun Tao down on the bed.
"Wang Jieshi, let go of me!" Chun Tao pushed him hard, but he acted like a madman, reaching out to tear at her clothes.
"Li Chun Tao, you are the wife my sister was traded for! In this life, you can only be my woman!"
Chun Tao used all her strength and violently shoved him aside, staggering as she climbed off the bed.
But the moment her feet touched the ground, her vision went black, and she collapsed straight down.
Wang Xiaohong had just entered the courtyard when she heard a muffled thud from inside the house. She immediately bolted indoors.
Running in, she saw Chun Tao lying motionless on the floor, while Wang Jieshi lay on the bed, panting heavily.
"Sister-in-law! Sister-in-law!" She crouched down, shaking Chun Tao as she cried. "What's wrong? Please wake up!"
Lately, Wang Jieshi had been losing his temper for no reason. Wang Xiaohong couldn't help but yell at him, "Brother, did you bully my sister-in-law? She won't wake up no matter how much I call her!"
Only then did Wang Jieshi panic. He struggled up from the bed, went over to pinch Chun Tao's philtrum, and said urgently to Wang Xiaohong, "Quick, go get Zhao Qingjiang!"
Wang Xiaohong dashed off. She first went to fetch Zhao Qingjiang, then ran next door to Zhou Zhijun's house.
She figured that if Chun Tao didn't wake up, they would need Zhou Zhijun to carry her to the commune clinic.
Aunt Zhou was startled upon hearing the news and immediately hurried over to the Wang family's house.
Not finding Zhou Zhijun, Wang Xiaohong guessed he must have gone to Huang Meili's house, so she turned and ran in that direction.
Zhou Zhimin and Huang Meili looked bewildered when they saw her running over, out of breath.
Huang Meili, recalling how Zhou Zhijun had just come looking for her, instantly flared up. "You wretched girl, are you here to tattle to Zhou Zhijun again?"
Wang Xiaohong had no patience to argue with her. She looked at Zhou Zhimin and asked urgently, "Where is Uncle Zhijun?"
"He just left. He should be heading to Party Secretary Zhou's house," Zhou Zhimin replied.
Without another word, Wang Xiaohong took off running, shouting "Uncle Zhijun" as she ran.
Huang Meili stood at the door, watching her retreating back, and sneered, "Not a single good person in that entire family!"
Zhou Zhimin glared at her and said in annoyance, "You always get yourself in trouble with that mouth of yours. Why don't you ever learn? Would it kill you to talk less?"
Huang Meili turned and glared back at him. "It's my mouth, and I'll say whatever I want! Mind your own damn business!"
...
It had been quite a while since Wang Xiaohong brought Zhou Zhijun back. The acupuncture needles had been applied, but Chun Tao still hadn't woken up.
The room was so quiet that one could hear everyone's breathing. All eyes were fixed unblinkingly on Chun Tao's face, their hearts clenched tight.
"Why don't we... just take her to the commune clinic?" Wang Xiaohong, worried sick, looked at Zhao Qingjiang and suggested.
Zhao Qingjiang was just about to speak when Chun Tao suddenly let out a soft cough. Everyone's heart leaped at the sound!
Chun Tao slowly opened her eyes, but her eyelids felt as heavy as lead. Having barely opened them a crack, she slowly closed them again.
"Sister-in-law!" Wang Xiaohong cried tears of joy, her voice trembling.
Aunt Zhou held Chun Tao's hand tightly, her eyes red. "Good girl, thank goodness you're awake!"
She turned to Wang Xiaohong and said, "The sugar water must be cold by now, right? Go warm it up and let your sister-in-law drink some."
Wang Xiaohong hurriedly took the sugar water to the kitchen to heat it up, then brought it back and handed it to Aunt Zhou. Aunt Zhou scooped up a small spoonful and slowly fed it to Chun Tao.
After drinking half a bowl of brown sugar water, Chun Tao gradually regained some strength.
Recalling the scene of Wang Jieshi pinning her to the bed just moments ago, her eyes instantly turned red, and tears welled up.
In the other room, Wang Jieshi heard the commotion and the heavy stone in his heart finally dropped.
He felt a pang of regret, knowing he shouldn't have been so rough with Chuntao, but the moment he thought of the red mark just below her neck, his anger flared up all over again.
He simply couldn't let it go!
